Light
by Rivendell101
Summary: NaLu Week Day 6: Effulgence. Because Natsu is like a light in the dark.


**AN: Day 6 NaLu prompt: Effulgence. I fell in love with Yubba's bounty Hunter AU on Tumblr (check it out, it's amazing). I might turn this into a full story later, that's how much I like it. If you've seen Yubba's AU, I would just like to inform you that I've fiddled with it a bit. It's also going to be a bit like Soul Eater.**

**Light**

**{Take me down by the water, water, pull me in until I see the light.}**

"Lucy, you're going to be fine," Natsu practically whimpers, shaking his partner lightly. This isn't supposed to be happening. She's supposed to be awake, smiling at him because they finished their job without destroying too many things. And she would be awake if he hadn't have screwed up. He thought they had defeated all the enemies in the area, but he was wrong. One of them had been hiding, and Natsu hadn't been able to sense it. That had been a mistake.

Natsu had changed back from his armor form, and when he had turned around to smile at Lucy, a joke on his lips, he had been horrified to see her falling to the ground, a knife going through her stomach. Lucy hadn't seemed to realize that it was there at first, she had just smiled at him, but it dropped into a frown when she noticed that he wasn't smiling back.

She looked down just in time to see the knife ripped out of her from behind.

For awhile she had just looked confused, but then the pain had registered and she fell to her knees with a dull thud, one hand pressed against her bare stomach. He had been at her side in seconds, helping her onto her back and pressing his own hand against the bloody mess on her belly.

Natsu inhales sharply, hand pressing against her harder. "You're okay," he whispers, looking down at her. "You're okay." She smiles lightly, her free hand lacing through his, her other hand is being held in Juvia's. Gray is gone, he had gone to get help, because Natsu didn't want to move her, he doesn't want to make it worse.

Lucy chuckles softly. "Yeah, Natsu," she meets his eyes, lips twitching into a grin. "I'm going to be fine." He releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding, fingers squeezing hers. It's so much more reassuring to hear her say it, but it doesn't make him worry any less, she's still bleeding badly, and Gray isn't back yet.

Natsu does find it odd that she doesn't seem to be in any pain. He's glad that she isn't, but it worries him. She was stabbed in the back—literally, but she's acting like she's perfectly fine.

Natsu glances at Juvia, and they share a look, both thinking the same thing. Juvia nods at him, and then turns back to Lucy, giving her hand a tight squeeze.

"Lucy," the bluenette says slowly, "aren't you in pain?" she asks. Lucy's head lolls to the side, and Natsu gasps. Lucy's paler than normal, and her skin feels clammy—she looks clammy. Plus her eyes, they look unfocused and when Lucy looks at Juvia it's more like she's looking through her. Something is not right.

Lucy shakes her head slowly, eyes drooping shut. "What?" she murmurs. "Maybe now's a good time to say that I don't feel anything." Her head rolls to the side. "Just numb."

Natsu flinches. This is not good. "Lucy," he says gently. "Lucy, can you feel this?" He squeezes her hand tightly. "Did you feel that?" he asks again. Lucy just looks at him, confused.

"Feel what?" Natsu stiffens, and on the other side of the blonde Juvia gasps, both of them exchanging horrified looks.

"Shit," Natsu spits. "Where the hell is Gray?" he barks, voice raising several octaves as panic floods through every fiber of his body. "Why isn't the blood clotting?" he asks, more to himself than anyone else.

That's reason enough to worry, there's a lot of blood—too much blood. Natsu is use to seeing Lucy's blood, it keeps him alive after all, but this—this isn't something he wants to see. Her blood is everywhere, pooling under her and soaking both her clothes and his. She shouldn't be bleeding this much—the blood isn't clotting.

"Do you think it's poison?" Juvia asks, hand squeezing Lucy's tightly. Natsu just sends the bluenette a half shrug.

"I don't know," he says back. "Lucy's better with this than I am, I just don't know." He swallows thickly. "I don't really care what it is, I just want her to be okay." His thumb brushes over the back of Lucy's hand, fingers tightening around hers. "Talk to me, Lucy," he pleads, attention switching back to his partner. "Keep talking to me." Her heartbeat is slowing down, and she's starting to fall asleep. "It's paralysis," he mumbles to Juvia, shaking Lucy slightly. "If she falls asleep, she probably won't wake up." Juvia starts to say something, but suddenly another voice calls out to them from behind.

"Hey! I got help!" It's Gray, and he has a healer in his grasp, practically dragging the man behind him. Natsu doesn't care, he just turns back to Lucy, using his free hand to brush her sunny blonde hair away from her face. Natsu's fingers slide across her sticky skin slowly, tracing across her jaw.

"Do you hear that, Lucy?" he whispers, fingers caressing her face. Her amber eyes blink up at him slowly, but he can see a hint of recognition in them, which makes him smile at her brightly, canines flashing. "You're going to be fine," he tells her, leaning down and placing a delicate kiss on her forehead. "You're going to be fine."

Juvia lets out a watery laugh, eyes filling with happy tears. She smiles at her dark haired partner as he walks up, and he returns it with a grin. "How's she doing?" he asks Juvia, looking down at Lucy, eyes sweeping over her. The healer is pushing Natsu's fingers away from her stomach, and Natsu is still murmuring soft words to his barely awake partner.

"Good, now that you're back with a healer," Juvia replies. "If you didn't show up just now I don't think she would have made it," she confesses softly.

"Effulgent," Lucy suddenly murmurs, making everyone look at their comrade. Her eyes are only on Natsu though.

"What?" he says, confused.

Lucy leans into him. "You're effulgent, like sunlight."

**AN: I don't even know. Sorry it's short. **


End file.
